Be ready to leave everything behind

 THOUGHTS AND VIEWS 

Fr. Roy Cimagala

We have to understand very well this particular aspect or requirement of an authentic Christian life. That’s because, most likely, our first impression of it can be misleading. To be sure, to be ready to leave everything behind does not mean that we should have no concern at all about the things of this world. We do have such concern and interest. In fact, we should.
    But yes, to leave everything behind has been more than amply taught and commanded by Christ himself. For example, to the rich young man who wanted to be perfect, Christ told him in no unclear terms, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Mt 19,21) These words obviously would give us the impression that we should possess nothing.
    In another instance, Christ specifies what is required to be worthy of him. “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Mt 10,37)
    Christ even uses the word “hate” to emphasize what is needed to be his disciple. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even their own life--such a person cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14,26)
    Still in a more graphic way, Christ spells out what is involved in following him. When someone said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father,” Jesus to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead…No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Lk 9,59ff.)
    When Christ called the apostles to follow him, these men for one reason and another left everything (relictis omnibus). Christ spelled out what is involved in following him. One has to deny himself and carry the cross. (cfr. Mt 16,24)
    Still more, Christ said that the kingdom of God is like a treasure found in a field or when one finds a pearl of great price that would provoke one to sell all he has to buy that field or pearl. (cfr. Mt 13,44-45)
    St. Paul lived this indication well when he said, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” (Phil 3,8)
    But in all these citations about leaving everything behind for Christ, it does not mean that we should have no concern or interest in the things of this world.  That’s because the things of this world are precisely the means, the occasion, the instruments we have to use to show our faith, hope and love for God and for others.               
    That is why Christ in his priestly prayer before his passion and death said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (Jn 17,15-16)
What is clear is that while being in the world, we should be detached from the things of the world. Our heart should be completely with God. This is what is meant by being ready to leave everything behind for Christ. And with God, we would have everything else actually!
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We have to be most careful whenever we start doing philosophy and theology. These two sciences are, to me, the most important and crucial ones, because they strive to study and know the ultimate causes of things and God himself. They are not just about technologies and arts which can be tackled to a large extent by our human powers alone. Obviously, the technologies, arts and sciences also need to be done in the context of prayer. Otherwise, they can go anywhere and can end up being a danger to us.
    We have to see to it that our philosophy and theology are done always in their proper atmosphere of prayer. With prayer, we are guided by the Supreme Being himself who will enlighten us as we try to explore not only the metaphysical realities but also the spiritual and supernatural world that can give us a lot of blind spots and mysteries.
    Let’s remember that when we pray, we enter into some conversation with God who actually tells us more than what we tell him. He guides us and shows us the reality of things in their ultimate objectivity. Without prayer, our philosophizing and theologizing would most likely be a mere exercise of speculation that more often than not would end up in some error.
    Without prayer, the motivation of our philosophizing and theologizing would be suspect. They most likely would be driven simply by intellectual pride, arrogance, jealousy, and things of that sort, that prevent us from seeing things objectively. They end up becoming a sheer exercise in self-indulgence and ego-tripping.
    And the usual effect of such philosophizing and theologizing would be to elicit a similar reaction of pride, arrogance, jealousy, etc. There is some kind of mirror effect involved here, a sort of vicious cycle.
    That is why philosophizing and theologizing always need to be pursued in prayer. When we truly pray, our motives become pure. We would be driven by an earnest but humble pursuit for the truth about the ultimate causes of things and about God himself.
    Let’s never forget that humility is what enables us to see things objectively, regardless of whether they are favorable and advantageous to us or not. St. Teresa of Avila even went to the extent of saying that humility is truth. Humility frees us from whatever conditionings we have that somehow distorts and even denies the truth.
    A philosopher or theologian who does not pray would be a dangerous animal, because to a certain extent, he can be very convincing but at the same time wrong. He can regale us with his showy presentation of his studies and research, filled all kinds of data and information, but still ends up missing the real target.
    A most likely sad effect of all this is that such philosophizing and theologizing would also generate the same reaction and response from their followers. That’s how many of our Godless ideologies have been produced.
    The men behind these ideologies reprise the style of the Pharisees and scribes of the time of Christ. These leading Jews were quite knowledgeable about religion, but they did not pray as they should. And so, when finally Christ appeared to them, they could not recognize him as he was and is. In fact, they killed him.
    We have to be wary when we dare to philosophize and theologize outside of the context of prayer, of a conversation with God, of the guiding light of faith. -- Email: roycimagala@gmail.com